{"id":2530732,"date":"2026-01-06T19:53:02","date_gmt":"2026-01-07T00:53:02","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/watch-new-cbs-evening-news-anchor-struggles-through-awkward-gaffes-in-debut-broadcast\/"},"modified":"2026-01-06T19:55:22","modified_gmt":"2026-01-07T00:55:22","slug":"watch-new-cbs-evening-news-anchor-struggles-through-awkward-gaffes-in-debut-broadcast","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/watch-new-cbs-evening-news-anchor-struggles-through-awkward-gaffes-in-debut-broadcast\/","title":{"rendered":"Watch: New &#8216;CBS Evening News&#8217; Anchor Struggles Through Awkward Gaffes in Debut Broadcast"},"content":{"rendered":"<aside class=\"mashsb-container mashsb-main mashsb-stretched\"><div class=\"mashsb-box\"><div class=\"mashsb-count mash-medium\" style=\"float:left\"><div class=\"counts mashsbcount\">26<\/div><span class=\"mashsb-sharetext\">SHARES<\/span><\/div><div class=\"mashsb-buttons\"><a class=\"mashicon-facebook mash-medium mash-nomargin mashsb-noshadow\" href=\"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/sharer.php?u=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.conservativenewsdaily.net%2Fbreaking-news%2Fwatch-new-cbs-evening-news-anchor-struggles-through-awkward-gaffes-in-debut-broadcast%2F\" target=\"_top\" rel=\"nofollow\"><span class=\"icon\"><\/span><span class=\"text\">Facebook<\/span><\/a><a class=\"mashicon-twitter mash-medium mash-nomargin mashsb-noshadow\" href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/intent\/tweet?text=&amp;url=https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/?p=2530732&amp;via=ConservNewsDly\" target=\"_top\" rel=\"nofollow\"><span class=\"icon\"><\/span><span class=\"text\">Twitter<\/span><\/a><a class=\"mashicon-subscribe mash-medium mash-nomargin mashsb-noshadow\" href=\"#\" target=\"_top\" rel=\"nofollow\"><span class=\"icon\"><\/span><span class=\"text\">Subscribe<\/span><\/a><div class=\"onoffswitch2 mash-medium mashsb-noshadow\" style=\"display:none\"><\/div><\/div>\n            <\/div>\n                <div style=\"clear:both\"><\/div><\/aside>\n            <!-- Share buttons by mashshare.net - Version: 4.0.47--><p>Tony Dokoupil&#8217;s first regularly scheduled night as <a href=\"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/cnn-skips-fact-checking-to-run-with-nurses-unverified-story-about-covid-patients-last-dying-words\/\" title=\"CNN Skips Fact-Checking To Run With Nurse&#039;s Unverified Story About COVID Patients &#039;Last Dying Words&#039;\">anchor<\/a> of CBS Evening News was marred by on-air slips and apparent teleprompter trouble. He had earlier appeared unscheduled after the raid capturing Venezuelan leader Nicol\u00e1s Maduro and offered a broad take on foreign influence in Venezuela. During Monday&#8217;s broadcast he stumbled over phrasing, fumbled transitions between stories (even asking whether to go to different reporters), and mistakenly called Minnesota the &#8220;Great Lake State.&#8221; Clips of the gaffes circulated on social media and the errors were removed from the program&#8217;s YouTube posting. Before taking the chair, Dokoupil had pledged to change the show&#8217;s approach &#8211; prioritizing ordinary Americans, speaking plainly about what he knows, and <a href=\"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-<a href=\"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/trump-taking-regeneron-drug-remdesivir-therapy-for-coronavirus-diagnosis-ex-wh-doctor-explains\/\" title=\"Trump taking Regeneron drug, Remdesivir therapy for coronavirus diagnosis: ex-WH doctor explains\">news<\/a>\/joy-behar-tells-studio-audience-to-boo-ron-desantis-whoopi-calls-him-a-batman-villain\/&#8221; title=&#8221;Joy Behar encourages audience to boo Ron DeSantis, while Whoopi likens him to a &#039;Batman&#039; villain.&#8221;>holding public figures<\/a> to account &#8211; a message that contrasts wiht the rocky debut.  <\/p>\n<p class=\"readmore\">\n    <button onclick=\"showReadMore()\" id=\"readmorebtn\">Read more&#8230;<\/button>\n<\/p>\n<hr id=\"line\">\n<span id=\"more\"><\/p>\n<p><?xml encoding=\"utf-8\" ?><?xml encoding=\"utf-8\" ?><?xml encoding=\"utf-8\" ?><?xml encoding=\"utf-8\" ?><?xml encoding=\"utf-8\" ?><?xml encoding=\"utf-8\" ?><?xml encoding=\"utf-8\" ?><?xml encoding=\"utf-8\" ?><?xml encoding=\"utf-8\" ?><?xml encoding=\"utf-8\" ?><?xml encoding=\"utf-8\" ?><?xml encoding=\"utf-8\" ?><?xml encoding=\"utf-8\" ?><?xml encoding=\"utf-8\" ?><?xml encoding=\"utf-8\" ?><?xml encoding=\"utf-8\" ?><?xml encoding=\"utf-8\" ?><\/p>\n<section> \t\t\t\t<script>console.log(\"ad slot (AC1)\")<\/script><script>console.log(\"ad slot (IC1)\")<\/script><script>console.log(\"ad slot (IC2)\")<\/script><script>console.log(\"ad slot (IC3)\")<\/script><script>console.log(\"ad slot (IC4)\")<\/script><\/p>\n<p>Perfection floated out of reach for &ldquo;CBS Evening News&rdquo; anchor Tony Dokoupil on Monday during his first regularly scheduled night in his new role.<\/p>\n<p>Dokoupil had made an unscheduled appearance Saturday in response to the capture of Venezuelan dictator Nicolas Maduro, but stepped into his new role Monday evening, according to <a href=\"https:\/\/www.mediaite.com\/media\/tv\/first-day-big-problems-here-tony-dokoupil-had-some-issues-on-cbs-evening-news\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">Mediaite<\/a>.<\/p>\n<p>He was offering a perspective on the ramifications of the raid that captured Maduro.<\/p>\n<p>&ldquo;What is actually about?&rdquo; he said, &ldquo;Well, if you zoom out a bit, you can maybe see the outlines of an answer. For decades, Russia, China, and Iran have been building a presence in Venezuela, a base of power and influence in the hemisphere. With Maduro now out, that base of power and influence could be out too.&rdquo;<\/p>\n<p>Then came a couple of on-air potholes, apparently worsened by technical issues with his teleprompter.<\/p>\n<p> <script type=\"text\/javascript\"> \t\t\tif ( getCookie( \"ff_subbed\" ) ) { \t\t\t\tdocument.getElementById(\"stnvideo\").remove() \t\t\t} else { \t\t\t\tdocument.addEventListener(\"DOMContentLoaded\", function() { \t\t\t\t\tfunction loadScript(src) { \t\t\t\t\t\tconst script=document.createElement(\"script\"); \t\t\t\t\t\tscript.src=src; \t\t\t\t\t\tscript.async=true; \t\t\t\t\t\tdocument.body.appendChild(script); \t\t\t\t\t} \t\t\t\t\tfunction findPreviousParagraph(selector, x) { \t\t\t\t\t\tconst targetElement=document.querySelector(selector); \t\t\t\t\t\tif (!targetElement) { \t\t\t\t\t\t\tconsole.warn(\"Target element not found.\"); \t\t\t\t\t\t\treturn null; \t\t\t\t\t\t}  \t\t\t\t\t\t\/\/ Get all <\/p>\n<p> elements in order as they appear in the document \t\t\t\t\t\tlet paragraphs=Array.from(document.querySelectorAll(\"p\"));  \t\t\t\t\t\t\/\/ Find the index of the last <\/p>\n<p> before the target element \t\t\t\t\t\tlet targetIndex=paragraphs.findIndex(p=> p.compareDocumentPosition(targetElement) & Node.DOCUMENT_POSITION_PRECEDING);  \t\t\t\t\t\tif (targetIndex===-1 || targetIndex <x) { \t\t\t\t\t\t\tconsole.warn(\"Not enough paragraphs before the target element.\"); \t\t\t\t\t\t\treturn null; \t\t\t\t\t\t}  \t\t\t\t\t\treturn paragraphs[targetIndex - x]; \t\t\t\t\t}  \t\t\t\t\t\/\/ Set up IntersectionObserver \t\t\t\t\tfunction observeElement(element) { \t\t\t\t\t\tif (!element) return;  \t\t\t\t\t\tconst observer=new IntersectionObserver( \t\t\t\t\t\t\t(entries)=> { \t\t\t\t\t\t\t\tentries.forEach(entry=> { \t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\tif (entry.isIntersecting) { \t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\tconsole.log(\"Paragraph is now visible:\", entry.target.textContent.trim()); \t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\tloadScript(\"https:\/\/embed.sendtonews.com\/player3\/embedcode.js?fk=s28Az7AY\"); \t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\tobserver.disconnect(); \t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t} \t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t}); \t\t\t\t\t\t\t}, \t\t\t\t\t\t\t{ threshold: 0.5 } \/\/ Adjust threshold as needed \t\t\t\t\t\t);  \t\t\t\t\t\tobserver.observe(element); \t\t\t\t\t}  \t\t\t\t\t\/\/ Find the 1st paragraph before #stnvideo and observe it \t\t\t\t\tlet paragraphToObserve=findPreviousParagraph(\"#stnvideo\", 2); \t\t\t\t\tobserveElement(paragraphToObserve); \t\t\t\t}); \t\t\t} \t\t<\/script> <\/p>\n<blockquote class=\"twitter-tweet\">\n<p dir=\"ltr\" lang=\"en\">CBS&rsquo; new guy. I think we&rsquo;re good here. <a href=\"https:\/\/t.co\/EIssvBwrzM\">pic.twitter.com\/EIssvBwrzM<\/a><\/p>\n<p>&mdash; Boston Radio Watch&reg;&#65039; (@bostonradio) <a href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/bostonradio\/status\/2008327288350212416?\">January 5, 2026<\/a><\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n<p><script async src=\"https:\/\/platform.twitter.com\/widgets.js\" charset=\"utf-8\"><\/script><\/p>\n<p>&ldquo;All right, to other news,&rdquo; he said according to a <a href=\"https:\/\/x.com\/bostonradio\/status\/2008327288350212416\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\"><a href=\"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/fraud-alert-analysis-of-3000-counties-reveals-joe-biden-received-5-6-more-votes-in-counties-using-dominion-voting-machines\/\" title=\"FRAUD ALERT: Analysis of 3,000 Counties Reveals Joe Biden Received 5.6% More Votes in Counties Using Dominion Voting Machines\">video posted<\/a> to X<\/a>.<\/p>\n<p>&ldquo;As you just heard from Jill, well, to other news now. Uh, to Governor Walz. No, we&rsquo;re gonna do Mark Kelly. First day, first day, big problems here. Uh, are we going to Kelly here or are we gonna go to Jonah Kaplan?&rdquo; he said.<\/p>\n<p>A few seconds of silence followed.<\/p>\n<p>&ldquo;We&rsquo;re doing Mark Kelly,&rdquo; he said.<\/p>\n<p>&ldquo;Possibly demoted from his rank of captain in the Navy. Hegseth issued what&rsquo;s known as a letter a censure for the Arizona democrat over his participation in the video, they called on service members to defy illegal orders without specifying which orders he had in mind,&rdquo; he continued.<\/p>\n<p>Dokoupil also later referred to Minnesota as the Great Lake State, which is the official nickname for Michigan, according to <a href=\"https:\/\/www.usatoday.com\/story\/entertainment\/tv\/2026\/01\/06\/tony-dokoupil-cbs-evening-news-debut\/88043680007\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">USA Today<\/a>.<\/p>\n<p>The mistakes were removed from the version of &ldquo;CBS Evening News&rdquo; posted to YouTube.<\/p>\n<p>As noted by <a href=\"https:\/\/www.foxnews.com\/media\/cbs-anchor-deals-big-problems-technical-malfunction-affects-first-broadcast\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">Fox News<\/a>, before taking to the air, Dokoupil had said &ldquo;CBS Evening News&rdquo; would be changing with him as its host.<\/p>\n<p>&ldquo;The point is that, on too many stories, the press has missed the story,&rdquo; he said. &ldquo;Because we&rsquo;ve taken into account the perspective of advocates and not the average American. Or we put too much weight in the analysis of academics or elites and not enough on you.&rdquo;<\/p>\n<p>&ldquo;I have felt like what I was seeing and hearing on the <a href=\"https:\/\/amzn.to\/3YuVZYV\" >news didn&#038;rsquo<\/a>;t reflect what I was seeing and hearing in my own life,&rdquo; he said, according to <a href=\"http:\/\/ew.com\/cbs-edits-out-tony-dokoupil-cbs-evening-news-big-problems-live-broadcast-11879762\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">Entertainment Weekly<\/a>.<\/p>\n<p>&ldquo;So, here&rsquo;s my promise to you, today and every time you see me in this chair: you come first,&rdquo; Dokoupil said. &ldquo;Not advertisers. Not politicians. Not corporate interests. And, yes, that does include the corporate owners of CBS. I report for you.&rdquo;<\/p>\n<p>&ldquo;I tell you what I know, when I know it, and how I know it. And when I get it wrong, I&rsquo;ll tell you that, too. It also means I&rsquo;m going to talk to everybody, and hold everyone in public life to the very same standard,&rdquo; he added.<\/p>\n<div style=\"position: relative;\">\n<div class=\"ff-fancy-header-container\"> \t\t\t \t<\/div>\n<div class=\"entry-submit-correction inner-content\">\n<div class=\"correction-form\">\n<form style=\"display: none;\">\n<div class=\"sc-name-field\"> \t\t\t\t\t\t<label>* Name<\/label> \t\t\t\t\t\t<br \/> \t\t\t\t\t\t<input type=\"text\" name=\"name\" required> \t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n<div class=\"sc--field\"> \t\t\t\t\t\t<label>* <\/label> \t\t\t\t\t\t<br \/> \t\t\t\t\t\t<input type=\"text\" name=\"\" required> \t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n<p> \t\t\t\t\t<label>* Message<\/label> \t\t\t\t\t<br \/> \t\t\t\t\t<textarea name=\"message\" required><\/textarea> \t\t\t\t\t \t\t\t\t\t<\/p>\n<div class=\"required-message\" style=\"display: none; padding-bottom: 15px;\">* All fields are required.<\/div>\n<p> \t\t\t\t\t<input type=\"submit\" value=\"Submit\" onclick=\"event.preventDefault(); firefly_sc();\"> \t\t\t\t\t \t\t\t\t\t<\/p>\n<div class=\"firefly-sc-confirm\" style=\"display: none;\">Success!<\/div>\n<\/p><\/form>\n<\/p><\/div>\n<\/p><\/div>\n<p> \t\t<script> \t\t\tfunction firefly_sc() { \t\t\t\tif( typeof window.captchaPublicKey==typeof undefined ){ \t\t\t\t\tconsole.error('window.captchaPublicKey is not defined'); \t\t\t\t} \t\t\t\tgrecaptcha.execute( window.captchaPublicKey, { action: 'submit_correction' } ).then( function( token ) { \t\t\t\t\tvar opts={ \t\t\t\t\t\taction:    'firefly_sc_submit', \t\t\t\t\t\tname:      document.querySelector( '.entry-submit-correction [name=\"name\"]' ).value, \t\t\t\t\t\t:     document.querySelector( '.entry-submit-correction [name=\"\"]' ).value, \t\t\t\t\t\tmessage:   document.querySelector( '.entry-submit-correction [name=\"message\"]' ).value, \t\t\t\t\t\tpost_id:   firefly_post_id, \t\t\t\t\t\tcap_token: token \t\t\t\t\t}  \t\t\t\t\tvar inputs=[ 'name', '', 'message' ];  \t\t\t\t\tfor( var i=0; i <inputs.length; i++ ) if( ! ( opts[inputs[i]]=document.querySelector( '.entry-submit-correction [name=\"' + inputs[i] + '\"]' ).value ) ) { \t\t\t\t\t\tdocument.querySelector( '.entry-submit-correction .required-message' ).style.display='block'; \t\t\t\t\t\treturn; \t\t\t\t\t}  \t\t\t\t\tdocument.querySelector( '.entry-submit-correction input[type=\"submit\"]' ).style.display='none'; \t\t\t\t\tdocument.querySelector( '.entry-submit-correction .firefly-sc-submitting-img' ).src=firefly_loading_gif_url; \t\t\t\t\tdocument.querySelector( '.entry-submit-correction .firefly-sc-submitting-img' ).style.display='inline-block';  \t\t\t\t\tconsole.log( 'ma subbing' );  \t\t\t\t\tif( firefly_post_id ) opts['post_id']=firefly_post_id;  \t\t\t\t\t\/* Send the data using post with element id name and name2*\/ \t\t\t\t\tvar posting=jQuery.post( firefly_ajax_url, opts );  \t\t\t\t\t\/* Alerts the results *\/ \t\t\t\t\tposting.done( function( response ) { \t\t\t\t\t\tif( response.success ) { \t\t\t\t\t\t\tconsole.log( response.data ); \t\t\t\t\t\t\tdocument.querySelector( '.entry-submit-correction .firefly-sc-submitting-img' ).style.display='none'; \t\t\t\t\t\t\tdocument.querySelector( '.entry-submit-correction .firefly-sc-confirm' ).style.display='block';  \t\t\t\t\t\t\tdataLayer.push( { 'event': 'submit-correction' } ); \t\t\t\t\t\t} \t\t\t\t\t}); \t\t\t\t}); \t\t\t} \t\t<\/script> \t     \t\t\t\t\t\t     \t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n<p style=\"border: 1px solid #f5f5f5; padding: 16px;\">Advertise with The Western Journal and reach millions of highly engaged readers, while supporting our work. <a href=\"https:\/\/www.westernjournal.com\/advertise-us\/?wj_source=article\">Advertise Today<\/a>.<\/p>\n<p><script>console.log(\"ad slot (BA1)\")<\/script> \t\t<\/p>\n<div class=\"ff-fancy-header-container\"> \t\t\t \t<\/div>\n<\/section>\n<p><\/span><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Dokoupil&#8217;s debut fell short of perfection<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":2530733,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_mo_disable_npp":"","fifu_image_url":"https:\/\/www.westernjournal.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/01\/Ben-Working-Feature-Image-2026-01-06T175931.907.jpg","fifu_image_alt":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[33651],"tags":[70270,36724,70269,35241,70268],"class_list":["post-2530732","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-the-western-journal","tag-broadcast-debut","tag-cbs-evening-news","tag-live-tv-mishap","tag-news-anchor","tag-on-air-gaffe"],"fifu_image_url":"https:\/\/www.westernjournal.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/01\/Ben-Working-Feature-Image-2026-01-06T175931.907.jpg","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2530732","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=2530732"}],"version-history":[{"count":3,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2530732\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":2530736,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2530732\/revisions\/2530736"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/2530733"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=2530732"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=2530732"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=2530732"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}